How Do You Deal
by Firetop
Summary: A horrible crime brings the skeletons out of the closets. AUTHORS WARNING! There is a mention of a rape.
1. Chapter 1

Title: How Do You Deal

Author: Fire Top

Rated: FRAO for profanity, graphic violence, and a mention of RAPE.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that appear on House, M.D. They are owned by Universal. No money is being made off of this. Also I don't claim to be a doctor.

Spoilers: Figure all the episodes that have shown in the US.

Summery: A horrible crime and skeletons are brought out of the closet.

Authors Note: I am warning you, that this work contains the mention of a rape. This isn't slash. Although it involves a relationship of two men. Also I created some answers to questions that have been bothering me. See if you can figure them out. Please send feedback to Constructive criticism is welcome, flames will be used to melt chocolate.

How Do You Deal

"Has anyone heard from Chase yet?" House asked as he faced two thirds of his staff. It was already eleven a.m. and their patient from yesterday was showing no signs of recovery.

"Tried his cell, apartment, and pager. No answer." Cameron said.

"Well I don't think that Mr.-"

"Beckman." Forman added in.

"Beckman is going to wait till Dr. Chase graces us with his presence. So to the board we go." He turned back to the white board with a new black marker.

"Any news?" Dr. Wilson saddled up to his friend Gregory House standing at the desk of the clinic looking through files.

"Trying to find a quick patient."

"It's easier to talk to them to diagnose them."

"That takes all the fun out of guessing." He looked at the half full waiting room. "They can wait. I need some fresh air." And he started to walk out of the hospital.

"So Chase call in yet?"

"No. And I'm so gonna fire his ass as soon as I see it."

"What if he's sick?"

"He could still call. We'd make him chicken soup. Have Cameron bring it over and spoon feed him. There better be something really wrong."

"I'm just saying-" Wilson was cut off by squealing tires, a van door opening and a body being pushed out and rolling till it hit the wall House and Wilson were leaning against.

House dropped to the groud and moved the body onto its back. "Shit. Wilson, get a gurney and some help. It's Chase."

Lisa Cuddy was walking around the clinic when she ran into Allison Cameron. "Have you seen Dr. House?" Cuddy asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Mr. Beckman seems to be responding to the treatment."

"Good. Has Dr. Chase shown up yet?"

"No. I was actually going to go check out his apartment to make sure he was okay."

"Good idea. Go. I'll cover for you."

"Dr. Foreman is still monitoring the-"

"Get a gurney." Wilson ran into the front doors out of breath. Both women looked at each other and ran to grab the nearest gurney. "Also call the cops and get a room ready."

"What's going on?" Cuddy asked.

"Chase." He answered as they ran the gurney back outside.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's part two. Thank you all for the reviews and another side note. I know that House is a bit OOC. There is a reason. Just hang in there. This might be the worst of the chapters. Thanks gain for reading.

* * *

House got down on the ground to check out the body. He would have run to get help but knew Wilson would be quicker. "I didn't mean like this Robert." He muttered. He removed the gag around the mouth and saw the blood. House rolled the man on to his side and watched the blood flow out of his mouth. No pulse, no breath. "Come on Robert. No giving up." He started to administer CPR.

"Greg?"

"Chase. Get him on the gurney."

Wilson and Cuddy lifted the body on to the gurney while Cameron helped House up. Once up he climbed on to the gurney still doing chest compressions. "We need to drain the blood from his chest. Blood pooled out of his mouth before. Get a portable x-ray too. 2 units of B neg blood. Get him on chest monitor." He ordered as they rolled into the hospital.

Once in the room he got off the bed and held his hand out for the scalpel to start the chest tube as Wilson ripped open Chase's shirt. "Shit." He commented as he noticed the bruising covering the upper torso.

"Come on people. The boy isn't breathing."

Cuddy, Wilson, and Cameron all looked at each other at that.

The beep of the flat line was heard as the paddles were placed in Wilson's hands. Two charges and the heartbeat was back.

"House?" Cuddy called as she and Cameron started to remove the pants.

"What?" He asked as he turned back. She motioned to the now naked body on the table.

House paused as he took in the body. Black, blue and purple. Swelling in certain areas. "Roll him." The three doctors and two nurses started to roll the body.

"Holy fuck." Foreman's voice was heard in the doorway.

"Get the portable x-ray in here now." He ordered. Eric Foreman ran to do his bidding. "Don't move it. Lay him back down. It's stemming the flow of what ever blood isn't rolling down his legs."

"Here's the x-ray." Foreman came back in with the tech and machine.

"Face, chest, and abdomen for now. Everything else can wait." And he left the room with the rest of the doctors and nurses in toe. Cuddy moved over to a phone and made a call.

House turned to the nurses. "Nothing that you saw in there gets repeated got that. Let's try and give him as much respect and dignity as possible. If I hear anything that I don't like there will be consequences. You can pass this on to all your little nurse buddies. Got that?"

The nurses nodded and moved back into the room. Cuddy came back to the group. "Drs. Stein and Gold are scrubbing up as we speak. They'll tag team him."

"How's Mr. Beckman?"

"Improving." Foreman answered still not really sure as to what's going on.

"Okay. Foreman, Cameron, the two of you are in charge for the moment. Keep an eye on Mr. Beckman. If he continues to improve we can send him home tomorrow." And he hobbled away.

"What did I miss?"

"We found Chase." Wilson started, nodding towards the door they just walked out of. "Van pulled up, dumped the body and sped away."

"That's Chase?" Cameron nodded. "Crap." He ran his hands up his face and over his head. "Okay. Okay." He took a breath. "I'll-" He was interrupted as the technician left the room. "Bring those up to the OR." He nodded and continued on the way. "I'm going to pull his file. See if there is anyone to contact." And Foreman walked away.

"You okay Cameron?" Wilson asked.

"Yeah. I"

"Dr. Wilson? Dr. Cuddy? There are some detectives here to talk to you. And Dr. Cameron, this package just arrived for Dr. House." A nurse came over to them.

"Keep us informed." And the group disbanded.

Cameron took the package back to the office where Mrs. Beckman cornered her about her husband. Going to put it on the desk, she spent the next hour and a half talking to the patient and his wife.

* * *

House walked into his office and looked around his desk. He just came from talking to the doctors who were operating on Chase. He was then cornered by the detectives. Actually he was glad to talk to them. Maybe they'd be able to catch the sick fucks who did this. They had a partial plate number. Hopefully it would be enough.

There was a patient coming in today. He wanted to double check the time. He needed to make sure that Cameron and Foreman could take care of it with out Chase.

The envelope on the desk caught his attention. It was addressed to him, Foreman, and Cameron. He paused thinking that it probably had to do with Chase being his name wasn't on it. Seeing that no one else had opened it he took the liberty. A CD. He was surprised. He put it into his computer, ready to see what was on it.

The movie started immediately and the scene that came into focus was one that Greg was not ready to see. There were about 5 or 6 men all wearing black from head to toe. Black ski masks, black turtle necks, black pants. Everything in black. Well except for the pale white skin that was on the floor.

The knock on the door preceded Cuddy's voice. "House-"

"Are the detectives still here?"

"No I think they left why?" She asked as House's eyes never left the computer screen. She walked around the desk and looked at the screen.

She watched as the naked man, one of her employees, was being kicked by the men. Then they held him down and some of them started to take their pants off. The man on the screen, Chase, Robert, tried to crawl away.

"I'll call them back. They are probably going to want to –" She was cut off as House found that the mute was on and turned it off. Screams of pain and shouts of _how do you like it? _and _having fun now? _soon filled the air as his legs were grabbed and spread apart as a man forced himself into Chase.

"Turn it off." Cuddy said looking away. He couldn't blame her. He was feeling a bit sick about it too. "Let me get them back here." And she walked away.

House really needed to escape. Between images from the video, images of Chase in the operating room and the gurney, and the memories of Steven he had to get away. Best thing was to bury himself in work. It would still be a while until Chase was out of surgery. Might as well make use of the time. Maybe he could kill off a few hours of clinic duty. And maybe he can find something else to wrap his mind around for a bit.


	3. Chapter 3

I know you've all been waiting for this. Thanks again for all the nice comments. I hope that this lives up to all your expectations.

I forgot to put a disclaimer on the title which is actually a title from a song by the group Averi.

* * *

How Do You Deal

The something else came 6 hours later when Cuddy found him still in the Clinic. "How long have you been here?"

"About six hours I think, you'll have to check with the nurses for the official time."

"Your new case is here."

"Give it to Cameron and Foreman. They both need something to keep them occupied."

"And what about you? How are you?"

"I'm fine." He started to walk away, now seemed like a good idea to check on Chase.

"Bull." Cuddy said following him. Once they were in an elevator together she started again. "One of your little ducklings is hurt. And you're other ducklings are lost. Unsure as to why this happened and how to deal with it. And you're just as lost. You don't like not being in control and here is someone you care about and you can't control what is being done to him." The rant ended as the elevator dinged. "Now you'll know what Stacy and the rest of us were going through when you were in here with you leg." And she stormed out.

Greg took the elevator to the operating room. He hated it when Cuddy was right.

* * *

"How is he?" Wilson asked as he walked into the observation room.

"They say a few more hours. They repaired his lungs and wired the ribs that were broken. Five of them in case you cared. There was a tear in his liver and his kidneys are bruised. They don't think that it's going be that much of a problem but they recommended that I watch his output. They also wired his jaw shut so they put a trach in. They are worried about his rectum according to the nurse.

"The flashlight, a heavy duty Maglite, made its way to his intestines. They are going to remove some of the damaged intestine and sew up the rest. There are also numerous tears that are going to keep him on liquids for a while.

"As for the broken bones, the leg is a clean break. Once he's out of surgery I'll set and cast it. His left hand though is going to need surgery. The hand, wrist and two fingers are broken and they need an orthopedic surgeon to do the work. Pins and plates to hold everything together. It's scheduled for tomorrow."

"And you?"

"Are you going to give me the same speech that Cuddy gave me? Because if you are, I'm not in the mood. She's right what can I say. Yes I know that Cameron and Foreman are unsure as to what's going on." He sat down in a chair. "I don't like not being in control. Yes I care about Ste, Robert, and it pisses me off that he was hurt. Even worse is that it isn't something we can just cure. This isn't a disease that we can cure. There will be scars and pain and there is nothing that I can do for him." House shook his head. "We got a new case. I should actually go check in on them and see what we've got. That should keep them busy. And I know that you went through hell when I was in here, but this is worse."

"What about you?"

"Gonna catch up on clinic hours. Maybe I can clock enough to give me some time off. Someone is going to have to stay withSteven as he recoups." House stood up. "I got to go. I want to be back by the time he gets put in a room." And he walked away.

Wilson took another glance into the operating room and turned away. There was something off about House. Not many people could read Greg House. Even less could read him right. Wilson was one of those people. This seemed like it was something more, almost too personal.

He knew that House had a soft spot for Chase. He didn't know why. He just knew that it existed. Almost fatherly. He wondered if it had to do with Chase's own father. No that couldn't be it. This was before the meeting of father and son. No it was something else. And what was with the name Steven?

Without realizing it, Wilson found himself in the records room with House's file in his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Welcome back all you nice people. Once again thank you for reading and reviewing. Again I know House is a bit OOC but I will explain it in the next chapter. Also, don't forget I'm not a doctor.

* * *

House was already in the room when they wheeled Chase in. He sat quietly off to the side as the nurses got him settled. They all knew who he was and were taking extra special care.

The surgery was a success, surgeries, that was. Hopefully all that was left was the one for his hand tomorrow and then the long painful recovery that House knew was coming.

After looking through Chase's file he realized that there was no next of kin. The emergency number that was listed belonged to House. The next of kin still listed his father.

House looked back at the man on the bed. He had to have friends outside the hospital. He'd been in the states for at least five years. There had to be people who he associated with besides the people he worked with.

That was a great job for Cameron. She always cared. Tracking down Chase's friends would keep her busy and out of Chase's hair.

Once the nurses left he moved the chair closer to the bed. God Chase was young. Greg knew he was the youngest out of his team, 27, but lying in that bed made him look like a teenager. And even more like Steven.

Greg shook his head. He wouldn't think about Steven. That had been a different time. A time when he thought the world was decent. How could he have been naïve? He was even worse than Cameron back then.

He took out his Game boy to help occupy his mind. They all knew where he was. He did about 8 hours in the clinic so Cuddy would be happy. He checked in with Cameron and Foreman, both seemed to have a handle on the case. All he was going to be doing was waiting for Robert to wake up.

A moan made him stand up and move closer to the bed. "Chase?" He called softly, not wanting to wake him up if he wasn't ready. Another moan was his answer and some fluttering eyelids. "You can't talk Chase. Just relax." He soothed, running his hand over Chase's forehead.

A nurse walked in at that moment. "How is he?"

"Waking up I think."

At the sound of the other person in the room the eyes opened wide, and he could see him try to work his jaw to speak. "Calm down Robert. You're at the hospital. You're safe."

Chase couldn't hear him. All he felt was the pain. He couldn't move his mouth and he couldn't breathe properly.

The nurse pushed the call button as she tried to help hold Chase down.

With the additional hands Chase started to panic. He had to get away. He started to fight against the hands holding him down. Soon more hands were added.

House watched as three more people entered the room and helped the nurse hold Chase down. "Give him something." House called. Chase's heart rate was racing, if they didn't get him to calm down soon he'd go into cardiac arrest.

The syringe was handed to him and he injected it into the IV. "Shh, calm down, Robert. Go back to sleep." He said as he watched the drugs start to take effect.

Once he was back asleep the others filed out of the room, the original nurse stayed. "Sorry, we were a bit late with his morphine." She injected the medication into the IV port. "That should help too. I don't think that they wanted him awake till after his surgery tomorrow."

"Thanks." He let it hang, he never learned the nurses' names.

"Cara. Dr. House, why don't you go do what you have to do. We'll keep an eye on him for you. And I'll page you if anything happens. I'm here for the rest of the night."

"You like him." He smiled at her as he stood up.

"We all do. Poor thing. Has no family. We take good care of him here. Make sure he eats and all."

"It's good that he has friends like you Cara. Thank you." And House left. He called Cuddy from his cell and told her he was leaving. It was the end of the day. Technically it was after the end of the day. Cameron and Foreman he knew left earlier. He'd go home have something to drink and try and catch some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the wait but was giving me some trouble. All fixed. I know its kinda short but it's important. Let me know what you think!

* * *

House was back in his office by six the next morning. Chase was scheduled for surgery at eight and he wanted to check in and sit with him for a bit.

Wilson found him in his office at 7:30 sitting looking at a photo album.

"Steven?" Wilson commented as he walked in.

House jumped. "Who?"

"Chase in surgery?"

"They just wheeled him in."

"Cute kid." Wilson commented as he stole a glimpse of some of the photos.

House quickly closed the album and put it back under his desk. "What do you want?" House bit out.

Wilson went to sit back down. "Wanted to see how you're doing?"

"Did you check in on Cameron and Foreman too?"

"Actually I know they both went out for drinks after work. They might be a little late. So yes I did. As for you my friend –"

"I'm fine." House said standing up.

"Sit down." Wilson yelled at him. It was more shock that Wilson yelled that made him sit down. "As for you, you're falling apart."

"Well one of my doctors has been brutally beaten and raped. Of course I'm not doing to well."

"And it has nothing to do with Steven? A saw a few pictures. It's almost disturbing how much the two look a like. They could have been brothers. If he were alive Steven would have been about Chase's age wouldn't he?"

"How did you know?"

"Always thought it odd how you treat Chase. And now with this, I pulled your file and did some research. Why didn't you tell me you had a kid?"

"Key word, HAD a kid. He didn't exist when I met you. It was another life time ago."

"Must have killed you when Robert Chase walked in for his interview?" It wasn't really a question.

Greg knew that he was beat. He taught Jimmy how to interrogate people and he was a quick learner.

"When Chase walked in I had to do a double take. The blond hair, blue eyes. Even the facial structure. Steven had a hair cut like that before he died. Thank god he had an accent. I didn't think I could take it if he sounded American. Then I saw his birthday. The same age. I wanted to say no, but there was no real reason. He had all the credentials and he was actually pretty smart. I guess subconsciously I was trying to fill a void." If he was going to be psychoanalyzed he was going to be the one doing it.

"How'd he die?" Wilson asked softly. He knew from the files, but he sensed that his friend might need to talk.

"Hit and run. He was ridding his bike back home. The car hit him and kept going. They couldn't save the leg. They had to amputate. He was supposed to be the best surgeon out there. They didn't close off a vein properly. He bled out."

"Greg." Wilson said softly.

"He was seven years, eight months, and fourteen days old. He was too young to die." House shook his head. "I'll be in the clinic if anyone needs me." He levered himself up with the cane and ambled out of his office.

James Wilson took a deep breath. He hated when things got complicated.


	6. Chapter 6

Happy Weekend! Thanks to everyone who reveiwed, it really means a lot. I'm going to warn you that House is a bit OOC in this chapter. Please don't let that keep you from reading.

* * *

Another 6 hours in the clinic with visits from Cuddy, Cameron and Foreman unfortunately breaking up the monotony, he got the page he was waiting for. He finished with his patient, popped another pill and headed to the ICU, where Chase was going to be spending some time.

The nurses were finishing up when he arrived. The only difference from when he last saw Robert was the metal contraption that was attached to his left hand. The one that was being held together with pins and plate. He sat on the right side on the bed and took a look at his chart.

Good meds for the pain. Good meds for the fever. No complications. He sat back and took out his Game boy again.

He didn't get very far. He kept looking up from the screen to check on the boy on the bed. It was after he had to restart the game again for the 6th time that he noticed the medical equipment start to beep quicker. The addition of the fluttering eye lids made Greg put the game down and stand up.

"No. Just stay out for now. Let's see if we can get him to wake up with out a full blown panic attack." He told the nurse. He figured that everyone in the room before had set him off.

"Dr. House." The nurse held a capped syringe out to him. She obviously thought the same thing.

"Thanks."

"Let us know if you need anything." And she left again.

He was going to have to start learning the names of the nurses. If they were keeping an eye out for his duckling when he came here to work then he owed them big. He turned his attention back to bed.

"Robert, it's time to wake up." Greg said slowly. He caressed the boy's forehead trying to soothe him by touch also.

Chase started to move more.

"Calm down Robert. You're safe." He said a bit louder. Blue green eyes popped open. He watched as he tried to yell and scream.

"Robert." Greg now grabbed his head in both hands. He held the head steady using his thumbs to rub circles on his forehead above his eyes. "Robert, look at me. It's Greg House. Listen to my voice. You are safe. You have to calm down."

Chase froze, staring into the face looking down at his.

The deer in headlights look that Greg saw almost broke his heart. "It's okay. We got you Robert. You're safe. I promise."

Tears started to pool in his eyes.

"Shh, its okay. You're going to be fine."

He blinked and the tears ran down his cheeks.

"You can't talk. There's a tube in your trachea to help you breathe and your jaw is wired shut."

The tears were free flowing now.

"If you can understand me blink once."

Greg smiled as he watched the eye lids close and open again.

"Good boy. I want you to go back to sleep. You need your rest." He started to move away when Chase's right hand grabbed his wrist. Blue green eyes pleaded with blue ones.

"Okay, okay." Greg lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed. He kept his hand on Chase's face, stroking his cheek and forehead. "Go back to sleep Robert. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

He was already ahead by close to two days now in the clinic. If he was to sit here and do his charts like he needed to do, that would account for another 4 to 6 hours. He'll talk to Cuddy. Maybe he can cut a deal with her.

"How's-" Broke his train of thought.

"Shh." He whispered to Wilson who was now in the doorway. Chase's eyes popped open at the sound of another voice. "Go back to sleep. I'm still here. No one is going to hurt you Ste-Robert." House continued to talk and once again the eyelids started to droop.

After a few minutes he slowly moved his hand away and got up. He leaned heavily on his cane as he made his way to the door way. With his back resting against the outside wall he popped a pill.

"You okay?" Wilson asked, concerned at how his friend was walking.

"Sat too long in a bad position."

"How is he?"

"Scared shitless if I had to guess. But he woke up and calmed down after a bit."

"I'm free for a while. You want me to sit with him?"

"Yeah. I don't think he should be alone, in case he wakes up. I got to move." And he walked to the elevator bay.


	7. Chapter 7

I apologize for the wait. Thank you again for all the reveiws.

* * *

Cuddy was surprised when she made her way to Chase's room the next day. There was Greg House, shoes off, feet propped up on the bed, head tilted back and light snore emanating from his parted lips. 

When she looked at the bed, she saw a pair of eyes start to flutter open. She moved closer to the bed and the monitors started to beep quicker again. In an instant House woke up and moved into Chase's line of sight. Cuddy moved back, not wanting to get in the way. "Shhh, go back to sleep Robert." House consoled.

"I'll get help." Cuddy said as she noticed the monitors continue to beep quickly.

"No. Just stop." House called out, never taking his eyes from Chase's, which were now wide open. "You have to calm down. I know you're scared. I got you. But you have to calm down. Remember, I told you that you couldn't talk because of your jaw and the trach tube. It's okay. Calm down and I'll tell you what's going on, but you have to relax."

Cuddy stood by the door, waiting to react in case it was needed. But it wasn't. After some talking the monitors started to calm down. "Good job. Relax."

House moved back to his chair. "Do you want me to tell you what's going on?"

Chase blinked.

"Okay. Oh Cuddy's here. I think she wants to make sure you're okay. Don't freak on her, we want her on our side." House smiled and waved her over.

"Hi, Chase. Just wanted to see how you're doing. I see that Dr. House is keeping you company. If you want to get rid of him just let me know."

Chase started to blink rapidly and the heart monitor started to beep quicker.

"I'm not going any place Robert. Even you couldn't get me fired from this place, and Cuddy even stood up for me. So they'd have to forcibly remove me. I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here."

Chase's heartbeat slowed back down to a normal beat.

"Are you sure you want to know what's going on?"

Chase blinked again.

"Okay." House took a breath and sat down on the bed next to Chase. "I was outside with Wilson, you know, doing my clinic hours. You were pushed out of a moving van. Wilson ran to get help. Cuddy and Cameron came out.

"You were choking on blood. There was no breath, no pulse, no heart beat. I started CPR.

"We put in a chest tube, drained the blood in your lungs. Shocked your heart twice. You came back to us.

"Five of your ribs are broken, one punctured each of your lungs. They repaired the damage, but to allow them to heal without too much stress we put you on a respirator.

"Remember I told you that we wired your jaw closed. It was broken in three places. We used a trach so that we didn't have to disturb your jaw to take you off the respirator.

"There is a break in your left femur and your left hand and wrist were shattered along with two fingers. They had to put in some plates and pins. With therapy you should gain back about 90 use of that hand.

"There was a tear in you liver that has been repaired. And your kidneys were bruised. There is a foley catheter so that we can monitor your output and make sure there are no problems for you down the road. There are also bruises covering most of your body."

Chase continued to stare at House.

Greg wasn't ready to tell him the rest. Not yet. Even he wasn't ready for it. This was hard enough. He remembered telling his son, that they had removed his leg. That had been hard.

Steven knew something was up. He remembered that his leg had hurt before, and that it didn't anymore.

Greg remembered the look that Steven had given him. The one that said, I know there's something else. What aren't you telling me? It was the same look that Chase had on his face at the moment.

The only reason that he was hesitating was that he wasn't sure how much of the event Chase remembered. If he remembered just the beatings then he didn't want to remind him of the other pain and humiliation that his body had gone through.

Greg looked at Cuddy searching for advice. She looked back at him blankly. He'd been doing so well with Chase before she wasn't going to help him out now. Not that she had any clues as to what was going on between the head of diagnostics and his youngest duckling.

"There was some other trauma." Greg started. "There was blood on your legs. When we rolled you over we found that a flashlight had been used to sodomize you. It tore through your bowels and damaged some of your intestines. They removed about 4 inches of your intestines and repaired the damage to your bowels. There were numerous tears along the anal wall that have been sutured."

Greg finally focused on Chase and saw the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Robert. I'm sorry. But we're going to get through this. I promise." He leaned over and hugged him while tears continued down Chase's cheeks.

Lisa stood up and walked out of the room wiping her eyes. She looked back in the room. She wouldn't mention to anyone what had just gone on in that room. It was something personal to both men and she felt like a voyeur for having witnessed it. She also wouldn't mention that there were tears in House's eyes too.

Greg was aware of Cuddy leaving the room but right now he was more concerned with the crying man in his arm.

After a few minutes Chase's arm came up to wipe away the tears. That was House's cue to lay him back down on the bed. He grabbed a tissue and handed it to Chase who wiped his nose too.

Chase then pointed to the tube in his neck and then House's watch. "When can you get that out?" House guessed at Chase's question.

He blinked.

"Figure at least one more day. We want to make sure that you'll be able to breathe on your own without any problems. We aren't taking any short cuts here. We want you to make a full recovery. You take your time. Don't rush anything, you got that."

Chase blinked slowly.

"Tired."

Again another blink.

"Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake back up." Chase looked like he was wanted to argue. "Rest is the best thing for you. You know that. Don't make me drug you. You know I will." Chase blinked before closing his eyes. "If you're good I'll get you a toy." Was the last thing that Chase heard before he fell back into oblivion.

Once he was sure that Chase was asleep, House went out to the nurses' station. "Give him a sedative. I want him asleep for the next few hours."

The nurse nodded and he made his way to Cuddy's office.


	8. Chapter 8

There's one more chapter after this and then this part is done. I'm working on the next part but I'm finding it harder than I originally thought. But with my two weeks of vacation I hope to have a good chunk of it down on paper soon. Thank you all again for the reviews. I've relized that feedback has become my Vicodin. Please feed the addiction.

* * *

"What the hell were you doing in there?" He burst into her office. 

"Excuse me?"

"You nearly gave the kid a heart attack with that comment."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that he's react so strongly. In fact, I'm surprised that you have also. Is there something else you need to tell me about this? Because if you can't handle this let me know. We'll work something out."

"I'm fine."

"Tell that to the tears in your eyes." House had nothing to say. "You don't have to talk to me, talk to Wilson, Stacy, anyone. I don't know what's going on but this is eating you up inside Greg. I don't want to see you hurt."

"Just watch what you say in front of him at the moment."

"House." Cuddy called as he walked back out the door.

"I'll be in the clinic."

Cuddy shook her head. This was way too complicated to deal with first thing in the morning. And House always gave her a headache.

* * *

James Wilson had spent most of his day looking for Greg House. But it seemed that he was no where to be found. If he didn't know better he would guess that House was trying to avoid him. He would have taken offence if it was anyone else, or if it was only him he was avoiding. 

That wasn't the case. No one had seen him. Well that wasn't true. Many people saw him. It just that no one knew where he was at one particular moment.

Wilson checked all the normal haunts to no avail. The only people who had seen him were the nurses in the clinic and that was for four hours earlier in the morning. He hadn't been seen in Chase's room since earlier this morning.

The nurses informed him that Cuddy had shown up too. That gave him an idea.

"Dr. Cuddy?" He knocked on his boss's door.

"Dr. Wilson, what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen House?"

"No not since this morning, why?"

"I haven't seen him all day. I can't find him. I've asked Cameron and Foreman. The nurses in the clinic saw him this morning for a few hours but then he disappeared."

"You're worried."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"It's personal."

"Has to do with Chase?" Wilson didn't bother to answer. Cuddy let out a deep breath. "Something is going on with House and it has to do with Chase. I don't know why but it is. I'm worried that it's going to hurt both of them. Is there anything that you can tell me?"

Wilson weighed his options. He could tell Cuddy the whole truth. House would never trust him and it could send House further down what ever path he was on. Or he could lie and not tell Cuddy anything. Then an ally and someone who could help House wouldn't be able to. "Chase reminds him of someone from his past. He doesn't want to talk about it but it's someone who he was very close to when he was younger."

"You know who it is?"

"Yeah." It was as much of the truth that he could give without it being really specific.

"You'll keep an eye on him? Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?"

"No problem. No guarantees on the stupid part, but I'll try."

"Try paging him, with the emergency number for his department. That should get him running."

"Tried that. Didn't work. I have one more place to look."

Cuddy nodded and dismissed him.

* * *

Wilson opened the door to the roof slowly. This was where House went when he really needed to get away. The last time he was out here was when Stacy was working at the hospital. This was where he could go and no one would look for him. 

Well no one but Wilson.

And that's where Wilson found him. Sitting on the ground, back against the wall, cane between his legs beating a steady beat against the roof top.

"This seat taken?"

House looked up at the man who was standing at his side and shrugged. He wasn't really up to company, but if anyone was going to look for him, Wilson was the least offensive.

Wilson sat down, and in silence they sat for a few minutes. "How long have been up here?"

Again House shrugged. He wasn't up for talking. There were too many things going around his mind at the moment.

"It's after five. Let's get out of here. I'll buy you a drink." Wilson stood back up and held his hand out to his friend.

House looked up at the hand in front of his face. As much as he didn't want to admit it, maybe talking to Wilson would help. If not, at least he was a sounding board to tell him if he was crazy or not. He reached out and let Wilson pull him up.

"Do you want to check in on Chase before we go?"

"Yeah, I should. Just for a moment." He knew it was probably a mistake, but at the moment he couldn't not care.

Wilson followed him silently. He would let House lead for the moment. Give him the illusion of control that he loved so much. But when he reached the road block, Wilson would be there to help direct him to the detour.

Wilson let House walk into the room on his own while he went to the nurse's station. "How's he doing?"

"Spent most of the day sleeping. Woke up a few times, from a nightmare if I had to guess. We've been keeping him sedated while Dr. House isn't here. It keeps him calmer and less likely to hurt himself."

"How's the fever?"

"Hovering around 100. We're keeping an eye on him. Don't worry."

"Thank you Cara. If anything happens page me."

"I will Dr. Wilson. Can I ask you a favor?" She hesitated.

"Sure."

"Take care of Dr House. I'm worried about him too. I would never say anything to any one but I know he trusts you. I'd ask Dr. Chase but." She let it drop.

"I know. I'm taking care of it. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon."

"Thank you. It's actually making some of the nurses nervous the way he's acting."

Wilson smiled at that one. Greg would love that. Scaring the nurses by being nice. That was typical House. "No problem. Thanks again." He quickly finished as he saw House walk out of the room. "You ready?"

House shrugged. "Got my keys, wallet, and coat. Do I need anything else?"

"Naw, lets go. I need a drink." And Wilson led his friend out of the building.


	9. Chapter 9

Authors notes at the end

* * *

Wilson was right. House hated that. He needed the night out. He didn't need the hangover and headache he had this morning, but the drinking and talking last night had helped.

He had to draw the line some where. Normally he had no problem separating his private world from his public one. But every once in a while the line blurred and things got complicated. Like now.

Very rarely did Steven resurface, but when he did it always kicked him up one side and down the other. He had to tone it down. He could still show he cared about Chase. It wasn't a lie; it wasn't something that he had to fake. He just couldn't allow it to run his life like it had the past few days.

This wasn't Steven. This wasn't his child.

But he was a father without a child and Chase was a child without a father. That was where the line got complicated.

He didn't know how he was going to fix this, but he knew he had to. If it was just Wilson who noticed the change in his behavior it wouldn't have bothered him. Even Cameron asking about him he could ignore.

But when Cuddy started in, then he had to worry. If she was asking questions then it was time to change. Was it even possible? Could he put his feelings for Robert on the back burner and put the line back in place?

He didn't have a real choice in the matter he decided. He had to. He had to work. He had to be himself. Arrogant, self centered, bastard that he was. At least the one that he showed everyone else.

Getting out of the shower he vowed to try harder. If not for himself at least for Chase. If Chase was to get better then the more normal things were for him the easier the recuperation would be.

That was the least that House could do for the boy.

Fin

* * *

Thank you all for reading. But don't worry. There is another part to this that is currently in the works. So hang in there, keep reading, and I promise to keep writting. Thanks again for reading everyone. You're reveiws mean everything to me! 


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